I was watching the old TV series "The West Wing" the other night and in one episode (Season 1, Episode 14, "Take this Sabbath Day") there was a story similar to the following:
There was a man who lived by a river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. Everyone in the town was evacuating except this man. A town official came up to the man and said, “Why are you not leaving? The flood waters are going to come and you will be killed. Come with me and I will get you away from here.”
The man said, “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
The man said, “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
A while later as the flood waters surrounded the man’s house a man in a rowboat came by.“Quickly, come and get in my rowboat and I will get you to safety!”
“No,” said the man. “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
“No,” said the man. “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
As the man’s house was about to be consumed by the flood waters a helicopter came to the man’s rescue. “Let me drop down this ladder,” the pilot said, “and you can climb up to safety!”
“No,” said the man. “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
“No,” said the man. “I am a religious man. I will pray to be saved and God will answer my prayer.”
The man drowned.
As he came to the gates of St. Peter the man demanded an audience with God. “Lord, I am a religious man, I prayed. I thought you loved me. Why didn’t you save me?” the man asked.
God replied, “My child, I sent you a town official, a man in a rowboat and a man in a helicopter. What the hell are you doing here?”
As he came to the gates of St. Peter the man demanded an audience with God. “Lord, I am a religious man, I prayed. I thought you loved me. Why didn’t you save me?” the man asked.
God replied, “My child, I sent you a town official, a man in a rowboat and a man in a helicopter. What the hell are you doing here?”
If only we could have the gift of foresight instead of the wisdom of hindsight. How many times have we gone through some trial in our lives only to realize after it's all over that God's fingerprints were all over the choices that we made or the opportunities we passed up?
One of my favorite movies, "Out of Africa", has a line in it which is a quote from Isak Dinesen. It says, "God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road." What would we change if we could see the future?
In a previous post I wrote about listening for God's voice. But how do we discern signs from God?
When I was going through the process of looking at houses to buy I asked God to give me a sign as to which one would be the perfect house for me. I asked Him for the sign to be a lilac bush, as that is my favorite flower. I figured if the house had a lilac bush on the property then I would know it would be a good house for me.
When I found the house I eventually bought, I did see a "sign"; however, it wasn't the one I asked for. This sign was a painting hanging in the living room that was exactly the same as one we had in the living room of the house I grew up in. I immediately knew that this was my sign. Not surprisingly, there's not a single lilac bush on the property.
Looking for signs reminds me of the old forest-and-the-trees reference. Sometimes when you are going through trials you can't see the forest for the trees. You can't see there is a solution because you are so mired down in the problem. You have to step back to be able to get yourself thinking clearly again. What a better way to clear our thoughts than by meditating or praying. We have to give up that tendency we all have to try to control everything. Once we give up that control, turn it over to God, a solution will usually present itself.
We can't dictate to God what our "signs" should be. I believe that God always wants us to be searching for Him. If He told us what the signs were going to be, and if we knew where to look, we wouldn't be searching any more. More than anything, I believe that God always wants us to be searching for Him in everything. Not just during the bad times, but during the good times too.
There are signs of God everywhere. In the beautiful, puffy clouds that are outside my window today. In the miracle of Spring. In the slowpoke driver in front of us that stops us from getting a speeding ticket. In the video on Facebook that reminds us that there is still a lot of good left in humanity out there. In the realization that the circle of life is of such a great gift it could have only come from our Creator.
Keep a watchful eye out for your signs from God. You never know where they might pop up; even if it's just God's way of saying, "Hi".
Karl Malden tells the "man by the river" story in the link below better than I have above. Enjoy!
One of my favorite movies, "Out of Africa", has a line in it which is a quote from Isak Dinesen. It says, "God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road." What would we change if we could see the future?
In a previous post I wrote about listening for God's voice. But how do we discern signs from God?
When I was going through the process of looking at houses to buy I asked God to give me a sign as to which one would be the perfect house for me. I asked Him for the sign to be a lilac bush, as that is my favorite flower. I figured if the house had a lilac bush on the property then I would know it would be a good house for me.
When I found the house I eventually bought, I did see a "sign"; however, it wasn't the one I asked for. This sign was a painting hanging in the living room that was exactly the same as one we had in the living room of the house I grew up in. I immediately knew that this was my sign. Not surprisingly, there's not a single lilac bush on the property.
Looking for signs reminds me of the old forest-and-the-trees reference. Sometimes when you are going through trials you can't see the forest for the trees. You can't see there is a solution because you are so mired down in the problem. You have to step back to be able to get yourself thinking clearly again. What a better way to clear our thoughts than by meditating or praying. We have to give up that tendency we all have to try to control everything. Once we give up that control, turn it over to God, a solution will usually present itself.
There are signs of God everywhere. In the beautiful, puffy clouds that are outside my window today. In the miracle of Spring. In the slowpoke driver in front of us that stops us from getting a speeding ticket. In the video on Facebook that reminds us that there is still a lot of good left in humanity out there. In the realization that the circle of life is of such a great gift it could have only come from our Creator.
Keep a watchful eye out for your signs from God. You never know where they might pop up; even if it's just God's way of saying, "Hi".
Karl Malden tells the "man by the river" story in the link below better than I have above. Enjoy!
